People asking what personal security costs are usually at an earlier stage than people asking what a bodyguard costs. They are not certain yet what they need, only that something in their situation changed.
The starting answer is that personal security runs from $129 an hour for a single protector to $599 an hour for a multi-person detail with vehicles. Which figure applies depends almost entirely on how much of your week genuinely needs covering.
Rates by coverage type
Every booking carries a four-hour minimum. That floor exists because advance work and briefing cannot be compressed below it without degrading the service.
Personal security, private security, and executive protection
These phrases get used interchangeably and the pricing overlaps, but they describe different things, and knowing which fits you changes what you should buy.
Personal security covers a person. You are the principal and coverage moves with you.
Private security more often describes property, a venue, or an event. Fixed-post guard work sits at the lower end of the range because it involves standing a location rather than moving with someone.
Executive protection is a program built around a corporate principal, bundling advance work, route planning, and threat assessment rather than selling hours. It typically begins at $299 an hour.
Most people searching for personal security need the first category, usually in short blocks rather than continuously.
What moves your number
Protectors. Additional agents beyond what a plan includes are $99 an hour each. One protector at $129 becomes $228 with a second.
Vehicles. Additional Escalades are $79 an hour, driver included.
City. New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco carry a twenty percent multiplier. Miami, Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, and Las Vegas carry ten percent. Everywhere else bills at base, so a single protector in Manhattan is $155 an hour rather than $129.
Timing. Weekends add twenty percent, federal holidays twenty-five, and same-day requests thirty. These stack, so a same-day Saturday booking carries both.
Armed coverage. Available where state law permits and the protector holds a current carry permit. It requires separate licensing verification and a liability endorsement, so it is quoted per engagement.
What coverage costs in practice
Occasional. One four-hour block a month for a recurring obligation costs about $516 before discounts, or roughly $439 booked online two weeks ahead. Annually that is around $5,300.
Weekly. One eight-hour day a week at $129 an hour is $1,032, less the ten percent long-booking discount, so about $929. Over a year, roughly $48,000.
Travel. Six days a month with an SUV and a protector at $199 an hour for eight hours is about $1,433 a day after the duration discount, or roughly $103,000 a year.
Continuous. Covering a single post around the clock requires a rotating team rather than one person working impossible hours. A continuously staffed post runs about 8,736 hours a year, which at base rates exceeds a million dollars annually. This is why almost nobody buys protection this way, and why anything above 40 hours a month moves to a retainer with volume pricing rather than list rates.
How to spend less without buying less
Four discounts apply automatically and they stack. Booking online takes ten percent off. Booking fourteen or more days ahead adds another five, reaching fifteen. Longer engagements cost less per hour: eight hours takes off ten percent, twelve hours twelve percent, twenty-four hours fifteen percent. Avoiding surge windows removes the rest, since shifting a Saturday booking to a weekday drops the twenty percent weekend multiplier entirely.
The larger saving is structural. Most people overestimate how much of their week needs coverage. Protection bought around specific exposure, meaning travel days, public appearances, litigation windows, or a period following a credible threat, costs a fraction of continuous coverage and is usually the correct answer.
Do you actually need it
If you are unsure, you probably need a conversation rather than a booking. The useful question is not whether something bad could happen but whether anything in your circumstances has actually changed: a threat you can name, a public profile you did not have last year, a dispute that turned personal, or travel into an environment you do not know.
Our threat threshold guide walks through that assessment honestly, including the cases where the answer is that you do not need coverage. For hourly and annual figures see the bodyguard cost guide, or talk to our team and we will tell you if a smaller package covers your situation.
FAQ
How much is personal security per hour? Between $129 and $599 an hour. A single protector without a vehicle is $129, with a luxury SUV $199, executive transport with one to two agents $299, and a full detail of two to four agents with multiple vehicles $599. All bookings carry a four-hour minimum.
How much does private security cost per day? An eight-hour day is $1,032 for a single protector, $1,592 with a vehicle, $2,392 for executive transport, and $4,792 for a full detail. Bookings of eight hours or more receive ten percent off, and booking online at least two weeks ahead takes off another fifteen.
How much does a personal security guard cost? A licensed personal security guard through a firm starts at $129 an hour with a four-hour minimum, so $516 for the smallest booking. Rates below roughly $60 an hour generally indicate an unlicensed and uninsured individual rather than a covered service.
Is personal security cheaper by the month? Yes. Engagements above 40 hours a month are quoted as retainers with volume pricing rather than list hourly rates. Continuous coverage is priced individually because it requires a rotating team.
What is the cheapest personal security option? A single unarmed protector at $129 an hour for the four-hour minimum, booked online at least fourteen days ahead on a weekday. That combination applies the full fifteen percent discount and avoids surge pricing, bringing the booking to roughly $439.